Michael Jordan’s Prodigy’s Achievement Scorned By Non-Playoff Bound Insider

The stage is set for 16 drivers to compete for the championship. What’s next is two months of high-octane Cup Series racing filled with adrenaline that will decide the 2023 season’s champion. The buildup to it was pretty theatrical, with Chris Buescher‘s win as the closing event at Daytona. Buescher’s win also relieved 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan, who was praying to see his driver Bubba Wallace in the playoffs.

However, Bubba’s qualification also comes at the cost of a potential shot at the title for many other drivers in the bubble battle. Having held on to the 16th and final spot, Bubba was also on a mission not to let go and most certainly felt the intense pressure, too. Yet, some people might have something to ridicule about his hard-earned qualification.

Kaulig Racing president has no love lost for Bubba Wallace edging it to the playoffs

Bubba undoubtedly had an element of luck on his side. His fellow bubble battle driver Ty Gibbs, hoping to go hot on the #23 Toyota’s heels, got entangled in the multi-car wreck on the 95th lap. This made the task a lot easier for the Alabama native, who has been unable to find a win this season, which also has been the root cause of his playoff struggle. For Bubba, this will be a highlight of his career, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time. But this doesn’t mean much to Kaulig Racing president Chris Rice.

Speaking to the spotter trio of Freddie Kraft, TJ Majors, and Brett Griffin on Door Bumper Clear, Rice revealed his feelings toward having one of his drivers qualify in the 16th place. Throwing out an NFL reference about the New York Giants making it to the Superbowl after the regular season, he states, “Imma ask you this question. So, I disagree with y’all. I think it should only be winners. The Giants can’t make it to the Superbowl by losing by one point but they pointed their way in. That’s my opinion, and I’ve been very vocal about that.”

His approach to the situation might have come to light sometime back at Richmond when the team decided not to field AJ Allmendinger in the Cup Series race. Instead, AJ went on to drive at the Xfinity Series race on the day before, ditching Sunday’s race. Rice uses AJ’s reference again to prove his point, claiming that despite having a great season individually, he couldn’t make it to the final 4 of the second tier championship last season.

“I think you should win to be in the playoffs to be able to go for the championship.” continued Rice. “AJ Allmendinger had a 6.6 average finish in the Xfinity last year and didn’t make it to the final 4 because you needed to win and those guys did a better job, leading up to the final 4. We didn’t deserve to be in there.”

Looking at the argument from an objective standpoint might make sense for Rice, but Bubba qualified as per the system set in place by NASCAR. The opportunities presented to qualify for the playoffs are also equal, making it a leveled fighting ground, so the only scope of improvement would be on Kaulig Racing’s side.

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While Michael Jordan is ecstatic about Bubba, Rice says he wouldn’t prefer it for his drivers

Following the conclusion of the suspense at Daytona, Michael Jordan was elated at the results. Symbolic to his jersey in the golden days of him playing in the NBA, Bubba drives the #23 Camry as well. Watching the 23XI’s #23 car qualify for the first time was a moment of joy for the owners. Showing his love for Bubba, MJ congratulated his driver as soon as he came back to the pit road. However, it was not the same for every owner and team president out there as many of the drivers missed out on playoff action, Chris Rice being one of them.

Despite his dissatisfaction, Rice believes that his team was certainly subpar in terms of performance this year. But the next words from him were a bit surprising. He claims, “Somebody asked me, you know, we had a shot to make it to the playoffs this year. We didn’t deserve to be in the playoffs and it never bothered me one bit because I would rather finish 17th in points than finish last in the playoffs.”

“I don’t like making a second round of qualifying and qualifying 10th. It bothers me worst in qualifying 11th. So I think, you should win. What do we have this year, 14 winners? So it should be 13 cars right? Yeah, I agree that we race all year. So the guys that didn’t win, now we’re racing for that championship also.“

Things may or may not have turned out differently for Rice and Co. in the season if they had a different approach. Drivers Justin Haley and Allmendinger did come close to winning at one point of the season, but their firepower was simply not enough to beat the big guns of the series.

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